My Hero Academia: Burning Bright/Chapter 8
Becoming Stronger ---- "Our first task for the day," Mr. Aizawa spoke up, drawing the attention of Class 1-A, "Is very important for the future of your class, and your time in U.A." Aki couldn't help but tense up. Please don't tell me it's another quirk assessment or battle training. I don't think I can handle that again. She glanced around to her classmates, many of them had tensed up as well. "You need to decide on a class representative." Aki breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally, some normal high school stuff. The whole class immediately started calling out that they wanted to lead the class. I don't think that's quite the right job for me. Aki thought and kept quiet. "Last year one of my former students came up with the idea to put it to a vote. You can vote for yourself, so whoever gets multiple votes will be chosen. The second highest amount will be the vice rep." "What if it comes out to a tie?" Miyako questioned while raising her hand. "I'm sure you can figure it out." That's sure helpful. Aki thought awkwardly. "Well, then let's get started." Miyako rose and started handing out index cards. "Everyone write your choice and we'll count them out." Aki stared at the blank card that was placed on her desk. Who do I want for this class? She wondered, she definitely didn't want to vote for herself so she would have to pick someone else. Oh, the choice is pretty obvious actually Aki thought and with a smile, wrote down Miyako's name. She's smart, organized and a perfect leader. She'll do great After everyone had made their choice, Miyako collected the cards and handed them to Mr. Aizawa who began writing the results on the board. Once he had finished the class stared eagerly at the results. It seemed quite a few students had 1 vote. They all voted for themselves Some students had zero votes like Arai, Satomi, Hana, Takara and Ayame. Aki found her own name and saw that someone had voted for her. Who the heck voted for me? Luckily, there much more votes than her. Miyako had a whopping five points and shocking Aki, and she assumed everyone else, Saburo had two. "Who the hell voted for that idiot." Daichi snapped. Aki couldn't help but notice Arai and Ayame shifting nervously. So it was them. It makes sense, they all did battle training together. Aki looked at Saburo, he seemed genuinely shocked by the choice. I don't think Saburo is as dumb as people make him out to be. "So our class representative is Miyako and the vice representative is Saburo." Aizawa announced. "I'm a little surprised you didn't get more votes, Kenta." Chika spoke up, turning to Kenta who sat besides her. "You're super strong and you got in based of reconmendation." "That doesn't matter much." Kenta replied, his voice quiet. "Miyako was the obvious choice. I voted for her." So that means at least one person voted for Kenta. It is a little surprising no one else did. "It's time to move on." Aizawa spoke up. "You can talk about this more after class." Back to work I guess. Aki stared at her desk. So far, life in U.A. had been quite hectic but she was eager to see where it went from here. Today is Friday, our first week is almost over and what a week it's been ---- Aki heard a knock at her door, pulling her from her slumber. Aki shot up in bed in alarm, nearly falling out of bed in the process. She looked at her clock, it was 6 am on a Saturday. Who could possibly be knocking on my door? She rose to her feet and walked sluggishly over to her door. Upon opening she suddenly remembered what was going on. Satomi stood in her doorway, a big grin on her face and a look of sheer determination in her eyes. “Rise and shine sleepyhead!” Aki yawned. “Right I may have--forgotten.” Aki said awkwardly and turned into her room, letting Satomi follow her. Satomi wore a dark red tank top with black leggings, she was ready to go while Aki was still wearing her pajamas. “I’ll--get ready.” She walked to her dresser, grabbed a white tanktop and black pants and quickly changed in the bathroom. She finished and faced Satomi. “What are we going to be doing?” Aki had to admit she was pretty excited about learning how to fight, she just hoped that Satomi would go easy on her. “We’ll start with some easy exercises today. I don’t know how much physical training you’ve had.” “Well…” Aki blushed slightly. “Not...much...at all really." Aki looked away. "No problem!" Satomi grabbed Aki's wrist and began dragging her out of her room. "I know just how to get started." Aki stumbled behind Satomi, blushing. At least she's excited. Aki thought awkwardly and followed Satomi. Aki was suprised when Satomi led her to one of U.A.'s smaller gyms. "We're training here? Is that allowed." "Mmhmm." Satomi nodded. "I asked Mr. Aizawa if we could train in here and he said it was fine on weekends, just to clean up after ourselves. We can use it until five." They entered the gym, it was small but empty. At least no one else will be here. "Okay," Satomi put her hands on her hips and looked up and down Aki. "We should get started with some stretches. They're pretty easy, I won't be working you to death since you have very little experience. Part of learning how to fight involves getting more into shape, so your attacks will have strength." Aki just nodded and let Satomi lead her. "But before that," Satomi reached into the bag she had brought along and tossed Aki a U.A. water bottle that was full. "Hydration is key." Satomi winked and Aki drank some of the chilled water. "First we'll start off with some jumping jacks, these are great before a workout." She's really into this. Aki couldn't help but smile. "Let's start." Satomi began doing some jumping jacks and Aki followed suit. They did fifteen of them and Aki could already feel her breath starting to falter, she took another drink of water. "Now sit on the floor and stretch out your right leg." Aki did what she was told. "Now put your arms up and reach as far down as you can, it's okay if you can't reach your toes." Satomi demonstrated, managing to touch her toes. Aki did the same thing, but could only reach the high part of her calf. They held this pose for a few moments before switching to the other leg. They did this five times per leg. Is it supposed to be this hard. Aki thought, feeling tense already. She took another drink of water and stood up with Satomi. "This next one is easy, just stretch your arms across your chest." That one was easy and Aki could feel it stretching her muscles right away. "We'll finish our warm up with a light jog around the gym, just two laps. Can you handle that?" Aki nodded, she wasn't sure she could but she had to try. I want to be stronger, and this is the only way to do it. Satomi did their two laps, and even though it was short and they went slow Aki felt her lungs begin to burn. There's no way I can do this. She was starting to falter. "Drink more water." Satomi pat her gently on the back. She's not even phased at all! Aki took another long sip. "Alright, now the real workout begins!" Aki's heart dropped. Great. "This won't be too bad, but I'd be lying if I said you wouldn't be exhausted by the end of it. You're a beginner, so this is going to take some time to get used to. If you start to feel too much pain, let me know and we'll take a break." "Okay." Aki nodded. I trust her Aki couldn't put this off, she had to do everything she could to become stronger. I will become a hero, and heroes need to be strong. "We're going to start with twenty squats." Oh my god. Satomi performed the first squat and Aki copied her. Her legs trembled violently as she did each one, but after what seemed like an entirety, they made it through 20 and Aki felt like quitting already, but she just took another drink of water and awaited Satomi's next direction. "Next is ten push-ups. Aki nodded, push-ups were the worst thing, but she did them anyway. After they were done Aki's entire body was starting to ache and sweat dripped down her forehead while Satomi seemed like she had done nothing. This is how I die. They continued with ten walking lunges per leg a 15 second plank and 30 more jumping jacks to end out. Aki was breathing heavily and chugging water by the end of it and Satomi just smiled at her. "If you're feeling up for it, we can do all that again after you've had a small break." Aki just nodded and sat down for a moment and leaned her head back against the wall. "You doing alright?" Satomi questioned, sitting down beside her. "Yeah, I think so." Aki breathed out. "Just not used to this kind of stuff." "That's okay." Satomi put a reassuring hand on her leg. "If we keep doing this then you'll get used to it like I am. Workouts are never easy, they're work but they're worth the payoff." "How often will we be doing this." "Not constantly." Satomi assured her. 'This kind of workout shouldn't be done multiple days in a row, maybe two or three times a week. We can do this on weekends, and sometimes after school is over. We can also go on jogs, and soon I'll start training you to fight." "Thank you for doing this, Satomi. It really means a lot." "Of course." Satomi beamed. "When I was in middle school working out and training were really the only fun things I had. Hard to do a lot when you live in a house full of other kids." "I mostly read." Aki laughed. "It was hard to use things like the computer, most kids rushed there after school so I didn't try." Satomi chuckled. "Yeah it was the same for me." Aki looked at Satomi. She's the only person here who understands the kind of life I lived. It's nice. The other kids did, but they weren't nice to me. I'm so glad we've been reunited. After a short break, Aki felt more energized and got back into the workout. The energy didn't last though and by the end of it Aki was sure she would pass out. They finally finished and Aki struggled to catch her breath. Satomi placed a hand on her back. "We should probably call it there, we should get some breakfast back in the dorms." Aki couldn't bring herself to speak, she just nodded and they headed back. As they left Aki noticed that the second round had taken at least a little toll on Satomi. Her breathing was heavy and she looked a little winded. So she is human. As they returned to Heights Alliance, Aki may have been exhausted but she felt optimism spreading throughout her body. With Satomi's help, I know I get stronger. I can become the hero I've been dreaming out. I '''will' become that hero''